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Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons
48 After these things, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is coming to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me. 4 And He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
5 “Now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Any children you have after them will be yours and will be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to get to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Whose are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”
And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face, but here God has also shown me your children.”
12 So Joseph took them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 He blessed Joseph and said,
“God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who fed me
all my life long to this day,
16 the angel who redeemed me from all evil,
bless the boys;
let them be called by my name,
and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 His father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He will also become a people, and he will also be great, but truly his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will bless, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”
So he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and return you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
Jacob Blesses His Sons(A)
49 Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, so that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together and hear, sons of Jacob,
and listen to your father Israel.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul not enter into their council;
let my glory not be united with their assembly;
for in their anger they killed men
and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
and as a lion, who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes;
and to him will be the obedience of the people.
11 He tethers his foal to the vine,
and his colt to the choicest vine;
he washes his garments in wine,
his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea;
and he shall be a haven of ships.
His border shall be at Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between two burdens;
15 he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear the burden
and became a slave to forced labor.
16 Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
a viper on the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider will fall backward.
18 I wait for Your salvation, O Lord!
19 Gad shall be attacked by raiding bands,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 Naphtali is a doe set loose;
he gives beautiful words.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring,
whose branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
they shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained firm.
His arms were agile
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of the God of your father who will help you,
and by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
blessings from the deep that lies beneath,
the blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26 The blessings of your father have surpassed
the blessings of my fathers,
up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
and at night he divides the spoil.”
28 These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, each with the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31 They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the children of Heth.”
33 When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
The Healing of Many People
29 Jesus departed from there, and passed by the Sea of Galilee, and went up on a mountain and sat down there. 30 Great crowds came to Him, having with them those who were lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and placed them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them, 31 so that the crowds wondered when they saw the mute speak, the maimed made whole, the lame walk, and the blind see. And they glorified the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand(A)
32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I will not send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 His disciples said to Him, “Where will we get enough bread in the wilderness to feed such a great crowd?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven and a few little fish.”
35 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd. 37 They all ate and were filled. And they collected seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 He sent the crowd away, and got into the boat, and went to the region of Magdala.
The Demand for a Sign(B)
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing Him, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and overcast.’ O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” So He left them and departed.
The Yeast of Pharisees and Sadducees(C)
5 But when His disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But when Jesus perceived it, He said to them, “O you of little faith, why reason among yourselves, that it is because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you collected? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I spoke to you not concerning bread, but that you should beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Psalm 20
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 may He send you help from the sanctuary,
and strengthen you from Zion;
3 may He remember all your offerings,
and accept your burnt offering. Selah
4 May He grant you according to your own heart,
and fulfill all your counsel.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
and in the name of our God we will set up our banners;
may the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen,
but we arise and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.
20 My son, attend to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them,
and health to all their body.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
and put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look right on,
and let your eyelids look straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet,
and let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or to the left;
remove your foot from evil.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.